Ginny MacDonald
News staff writer
ALABAMA — State troopers had given out 15,917 traffic tickets through Saturday, including almost 8,000 for speeding, by the sixth day of their Take Back Our Highways II campaign.
There were 9,510 tickets given out for dangerous driving during Thanksgiving week through Saturday, including 7,997 for speeding, 150 for drunk driving, 201 for tailgating and 104 for improper lane changes.
Saturday’s ticket tally was 1,776 for dangerous driving; 36 for drunk driving; 1,445 for speeding; 17 for tailgating; and 20 for improper lane change.
The six-day tally for tickets written for improper use of seat belts or child restraints is 2,058, with 258 tickets given out Saturday.
Troopers investigated 107 rural crashes which resulted in one fatality and 24 injuries Saturday.
The campaign began last Monday and ended Sunday. Final statistics will be available today.
Ticket totals are only from the Alabama Department of Public Safety. Local police and sheriff’s departments also are participating in the campaign, but their tallies were not available Sunday.
Highway patrols from Mississippi and Tennessee staged similar campaigns last week and worked with Alabama troopers along bordering highways.
The campaign has put about 200 additional troopers on the highway for between 400 and 500 on patrol on any given day over the holiday week. Unlike a similar campaign in August, DPS staff were allowed to take time off and this week’s patrolling was voluntary, officials said
There has been more going on on the highways than traffic tickets, according to DPS statistics. During the six-day blitz, troopers also assisted 402 motorists and made 392 arrests for offenses not related to traffic. Those arrests could range from drivers who had outstanding warrants to criminal charges.
Copyright 2007 The Birmingham News